Leadership Mentor Program

• Purpose: The NAKHE Leadership Mentor Program (LMP) is designed to bring together members of the kinesiology community for a one-week “shadow” experience to build future leaders through hands-on mentoring and real-world scenarios. The program is also designed to build networking and social communication between university kinesiology departments from different locations inside and outside of the United States. The desired outcome is an increased level of awareness and understanding of the position and the job requirements of a kinesiology administrator on the part of the mentee.
  
  
• Format: The suggested format for the LMP experience is a one-week (five day) visit by an aspiring kinesiology administrator to the campus of an experienced kinesiology administrator (department chair or higher-level university administrator). The mentee will travel to the mentor’s University and spend five days (suggested Monday through Friday) working with the mentor. All meetings and events that are attended by the mentor will be made available to the mentee (save for any that may be inappropriate – personnel meetings, etc.; alternative experiences will be arranged by the mentor). The intent is that the mentee will participate in all of the experiences of the mentor, side-by-side, whenever possible.
  
  
• Mentee Requirements: The mentee should be a full-time faculty member at a university in a kinesiology department with a rank no higher than associate professor. The mentee may not be, nor have ever been a chair, dean or other administrative position. The mentee should have aspirations of becoming a university administrator as a career goal. The mentee has been a member of NAKHE for at least one year. The mentee is responsible for any additional costs outside the 5 days of travel, or for upgrades to housing, as well as for their own food.
  
  
• Mentor Requirements: The requirements for a mentor include a minimum of 5 years of experience as a chair, dean or higher-level administrator. The mentor is responsible for securing campus approval and locating reasonable housing for the mentee. This may come in the form of university housing, or a hotel (the mentee has the option of not using this, but would be responsible for any additional costs). Additionally, the mentor agrees to coordinate transportation, university agendas, and any other logistical needs of the mentee.
  
  
• Logistics: Prior to submission of the application, the mentor should have secured university approval to provide access to campus meetings. The mentor and mentee should have agreed upon travel dates, location and housing before submitting an application.  (NOTE: applications do not guarantee funding. Do not to make travel arrangements until AFTER the award is received.)
  
  
• Grant Amounts: The award shall be granted as one award to two individuals (mentee and mentor). The total amount awarded for the grant is $1500, the majority of which will fund the travel and housing costs for the mentee. Funds not used for travel or housing can be used as additional stipends. Up to three grants may be awarded in a given year. Reimbursement to the mentee will be provided by the NAKHE Executive Director up to the limit of $1,500. Suggested budget guidelines are below:
  
  

  Travel     mentee:     $350     mentor:     $0

  Housing    mentee:     $650     mentor:     $0

  Stipend    mentee:     $200     mentor:     $300

                         $1200                $300

• Application Process: Mentee/mentor pairings should send the completed LMP application and their CVs to the LMP committee chair, Jennifer Bunn (jab229@shsu.edu).
  
  
• The application Deadline is April 15, 2023.

• Exit Requirements: Upon receiving the award, the mentor and mentee agree to the following:
  
  
  1. Complete the one-week shadowing experience within one year of notification of application approval.
     
     
  2. Submit a presentation proposal for the NAKHE annual meeting. The focus should be a narrative of the leadership/administrative experience. Identify that the proposal is related to the LMP experience in either the title or the submission.
     
     
  3. Submit an editor-reviewed, co-authored manuscript to either the International Journal of Kinesiology in Higher Education or Quest within one year of the experience. The manuscript should focus on a topic important to dyad or a point of interest specific to one party. The manuscript should NOT be a narrative of the experience.
     
     
• LMP Committee: The committee shall consist of three voting members nominated by the LI Director and approved by the Board of Directors of NAKHE. The Leadership Institute Director shall serve as an ex-officio member.
  
  
• Requests for more information should be sent to:
  
  Jennifer Bunn at 
  
  
• Past Leadership Mentor Award Recipients
  
  
• Download the Leadership Mentor Grant Application Form